Wizarding Blue
by TheoBurr
Summary: AU What if Gail and Holly started Hogwarts together? Currently working on update. No promises as to when the update will hit. July 12, 2015
1. The Sorting Part 1

Note: I'm doing this for fun. Let me know what you think. This will probably only update once a week though.

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The station platform was packed full of overactive kids and the loud obnoxious screeching of owls. Gail Peck couldn't stand owls. She was eleven years old and about to start her first year at Hogwarts and she couldn't stand owls in the slightest. Which only made the young barn owl sitting in its cage on top of her luggage even more annoying. Her mother had insisted on getting it for her for literally no other reason than to be able to harass her while she was at school. Gail planned on giving it away as soon as she could. Maybe some poor muggle-born would trade her sweets for it.

"Have you picked a name for him yet?" asked William Peck, her father, as he pushed her cart up to the train so he could load her luggage.

"Owl," said Gail. She actually hadn't decided on a name yet but the idea of just calling it owl was very appealing. Very non-committal. That was exactly how she felt about the feathery annoyance.

"Sounds appropriate," chuckled Bill. Gail smiled up at him.

"Gail." Called her mother from behind them. Gail turned to see Elaine Peck walking adamantly toward them with an older looking boy, already dressed in the school uniform with the familiar green and silver tie sticking out under his neck and a prefect badge gleaming from the front of his robes. Gail groaned and turned to her father who just shot her a sympathetic look. Bill Peck was never one to confront his wife. "Gail, this is Weston. He's a Prefect for Slytherin."

"And?" asked Gail, really not seeing where this was supposed to be going. All summer she had been dreading going to school but now she wished she was on the train and headed to the castle hidden away in the country.

"And my boss's son," said Elaine, much more curtly. Weston stuck his hand out to Gail.

"I hear you'll be joining us in Slytherin with your brother." Gail almost laughed at the guy's Yankee accent but thought better of it in the presence of her mother. She slowly reached out and shook the kid's hand. Being only eleven, she found it a bit odd and mostly creepy that her mother was already introducing her to boys.

"Not really up to me but we'll see, right? Mom tells me all the time about how clever I think I am. Maybe I'll be in Ravenclaw." Weston shot her a confused smile like there was a joke he wasn't quite getting. And there was. It was him. He obviously didn't get it because usually legacy kids were much more positive about their House placement and her joke about being in another House was just too much for him. True, Gail figured she would be in Slytherin just like her brother and parents but she just really didn't really feel like playing her mother's game at the moment. She wanted to get on the train and sleep until they arrived.

Elaine's face as Weston walked off told Gail that she had screwed up. She looked at the floor and readied herself but nothing came. She glanced back up to see her mother just glaring at her.

"Clever girl like you can do just fine getting her own luggage on board. Bill." Gail's father pulled her into a quick hug and kissed her on the head.

"Be good, sweetie. Have fun." Gail thought about how much more fun it would be if her dad would stand up to her mother and help her put her luggage on the train. But, no. That wasn't about to happen.

So, Gail watched both of her parents head down the platform toward her brother who was talking to a group of other older kids, probably third and fourth years. Of course Elaine was serious and she got stuck putting her own luggage on the train. That made perfect sense. A weak eleven year old girl putting her own trunk onboard a train. Good parenting, Elaine. Miss you too. The blonde girl looked over at her stuff and the owl on top. She glared at it and it just hooted warmly at her. She scowled at it. It just hooted happily again.

After managing to get her stuff onto the Hogwarts Express by herself, she found an empty compartment and threw herself down on one side of seats. She hung the owl's cage from the luggage rack and knocked it slightly sending the little creator hooting around his cage.

"Is that seat taken?" A voice from the door caused Gail to snap her head up from the seat and glare at whoever was bugging her. The girl, easily a third year, squeaked at her glare and ran off down the hall. Gail kicked the door closed and slid the lock in place. She was not in the mood to share. She was in the mood to sleep. And that's just what she did.

Or at least she was able to sleep until later that day when a very loud and abrupt sneeze yanked her from her snack filled dream. Chunky or not, Gail was going to love snacks until the end of time. She didn't care if that meant her young chub would turn into outright fatness when she got older. Snacks were better than people. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Gail narrowed her eyes and looked across the compartment to the noise culprit.

A brown haired girl, no older than her, was sitting there pushing her glasses up the brim of her nose looking at Gale like a scared child who knew it had just poked a sleeping dragon in the eye.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," said the girl.

"How'd you get in?" asked Gail, turning in her seat and inspecting the other girl. Upon closer examination it was clear that this girl was the same age as her. She was already in her uniform with the standard pre-sorting black tie.

"Well, it's a standard lock," said the girl. "And we have magic wands. I mean, I might be muggle-born but that really didn't take me very long to figure out."

"Muggle-born." Gail repeated it, more for herself than for any actual clarification. Muggle-born would actually explain the girl's presence. Everyone else would know to stay away from the blonde hair and blue eyes sleeping in that cabin, probably even the mutts. Gail's face had a habit of constantly showing up along with her parents' in wizarding publications. That's what happens when your parents are big deals in Magical Law Enforcement.

"Yes?" The girl seemed hesitant. "You aren't one of those people I heard about who hates muggle-borns, are you?"

"What if I was?" Gail raised an eyebrow and met the cautious brown eyes across the cabin. The girl held her gaze before narrowing her eyes and looking Gail over. Gail sighed. She loved messing with people but not about something as stupid as the bigoted idiots more worried about the quality of their blood than the quality of a person. "I'm not. You being muggle-born just explains a lot."

"It does?" Holly was actually looking at Gail rather expectantly. Like, she might have accidentally woken up the sleeping dragon but now, instead of running, she just wanted to ask it all sort of questions. What a weird girl. "Well, I mean, I guess it could. It obviously tells you that I have no idea what's going on. I'm actually still amazed that I'm actually on a magical train headed toward a school that's going to teach me magic. How crazy is that? Well, it's probably not crazy to you. You're clearly not muggle-born. This is all probably completely normal for you. You've probably been waiting your whole childhood for this. Not me. I got that letter and I thought it was a joke one of the others was playing on me but then some guy showed up to talk to Ms. Frills and wow…the cool stuff he did. Like, he turned her tea cup into a mouse! The way Ms. Frills screamed was kind of hilarious."

"You talk a lot," said Gail still baffled that this girl was even talking to her. It had been a long time since someone her age willing spoke to her. Holly froze and looked at her with wide eyes before quickly looking at her lap and twisting her hands together.

"Sorry. I uh. Just get carried away." Gail watched the girl tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and lean back in her seat to look out the window. The scenery whizzed by beyond the glass and as beautiful as Gail was sure it was her attention was on the brunette. Normally she would have just taken the girl's silence and gone back to sleep. But something about the awkwardness made her actually want to do something, anything, to get the weirdo to smile again. Like she snuffed that light out from the world and she had to rekindle it.

"What's your name?" asked Gail. The brunette looked over at her a bit suspiciously before offering anything up.

"Holly. Holly Stewart. You?" The way Holly tilted her head to the side reminded Gail of a puppy.

"Gail Peck." This Holly girl was once again completely baffling Gail by smiling widely at something as simple as revealing her name. It's like this girl was more excited that Gail was actually talking to her than any connection the blonde had to a prominent wizarding family. Did this girl actually want to talk to her? What did people her age even talk about? "My wand is made of holly."

"Really?" Gail could have sworn that Holly's smile had just gotten warmer. Was that even possible? Could smiles do that? This girl had to be a trick. Steve was playing a trick on her. No, Steve was probably too busy being annoyingly popular to even remember he had a sister. "That's pretty cool. I read that holly wands are some of the rarest especially if paired with a phoenix feather core. Something about the temperament of the materials. But apparently those wands are super strong with the right witch or wizard."

Gail pulled her wand out of her robe and looked down at it, running her fingers along the etchings in the handle. She wasn't about to tell Holly but the core of her wand was phoenix feather and she had heard all about how her wand would probably reject her because of how volatile the combination was. She always pictured it would just explode in her face which actually left her kind of afraid to use it.

"My wand is willow with a unicorn tail hair," said Holly, obviously accepting that Gail was just a quiet girl who liked to just stare at her wand sometimes. "Hey, have you ever seen a unicorn? Like, a real live unicorn?"

"Once. Except it wasn't alive." Gail watched Holly's face fall. "It was old or whatever."

"Oh. Well, that's less depressing. Still pretty sad though."

"There are unicorns in the Forbidden Forest at school," said Gail. She was actually rather proud of how social she was being despite how awkward she felt trying to make conversation. Was she just supposed to share information she knew about whatever the subject was? She was more used to conversations where it was an adult telling her things. "My brother says a bunch of kids usually try to sneak out and find them at least once a year."

"Really?" Holly turned in her seat and pulled her legs up onto the cushion to cross them underneath herself. "What year is your brother in? What House is he in?"

"He's starting his third year and he's in Slytherin, like our parents," said Gail as she looked at the ground and muttered more to herself than to Holly. "Just like I'll probably be." Then she looked back up at the brunette who seemed to be studying her. "Do you know what House you might be in?"

"Well, I read _Hogwarts, a History_ so I know the story and what each House tends to look forbut I mean, I don't know what House I'll be in." Suddenly looking very nervous, Holly fidgeted and turned toward the window, leaving her legs crossed under her. Then she pulled a small red lunchbox from the knapsack next to her and pulled out a package of crackers.

They sat in silence for a few minutes and Gail cursed herself in her head. Why was talking to people so hard? Had she said something wrong? Did she make Holly feel weird about not knowing what House she'd be in? Then again, Holly probably didn't even know what the sorting was. It was wizarding tradition to keep it a secret so eleven year olds didn't know they'd just been sitting on a stool with an enchanted hat on their head. Lucky for Gail, Steve had let it slip one day while he was messing with her.

When Gail looked across the compartment at the other girl she noticed that Holly was slipping crackers into the pocket of her robe. When Holly looked up and caught Gail's eye she immediately looked away and out the window. The blonde eyed her companion suspiciously.

"What's in your pocket?"

"Crackers, obviously." Holly tried to pass it off like it was nothing.

"So why is your pocket moving?" Gail eyed her suspiciously. This weird girl was obviously hiding something and the blonde was much too curious to let it slide.

"Um…" Holly looked down at her lap and just munched on a cracker of her own. Then a small, furry head popped out of her robe to the sound and Holly quickly covered it with her hand and refused to meet Gail's eye.

"You have a rat," said Gail, immediately going into Peck mode. It was Peck Protocol to follow the rules and make sure others did the same. It wasn't like she actually cared. "Rats aren't on the approved list."

Holly looked over at her quickly, her eyes wide with fear.

"I know. I just. I went to the pet store and I can't really have any of the other animals where I live but then I saw this little girl and she was the sweetest little thing and she does tons of cool tricks. I've already taught her a bunch more too. And they're way easier to take care of than most of the other pets and much less grooming and dander. So, I used the money I had been saving for a new winter jacket and…and just…please don't tell."

"If it gets you to stop talking, fine. I won't tell." Something about the way Holly had pleaded at the end of her rambling just made Gail's heartbreak. Holly beamed the brightest smile at Gail and actually pulled the rat out of her pocket to sit it on her lap and properly handed it crackers. This had to be the weirdest girl she'd ever met. Maybe it was the whole muggle-born thing. Maybe they were all weird. She'd honestly never met one that wasn't an adult and already completely immersed in the wizarding world. "What's its name?"

"Her name is Crackers," said Holly sheepishly, not looking up from her pet, and Gail actually grinned. So, the girl actually hadn't been lying when she said Crackers was in her pocket.

Gail pulled the Daily Prophet out of her trunk and started trying to read the front page. However, she found herself looking over and watching Holly more than anything else. It seemed like this girl actually wanted to talk to her. That was a big deal for Gail. No one ever wanted to talk to her. She felt a little jittery at the idea. Was she excited? She couldn't remember the last time she was excited about something. But the thought of actually have a friend was kind of getting her worked up. On the inside of course. Pecks didn't show emotions.

While trying to bury down the jittery feeling, Gail decided to size up her companion. Holly was thin, tan, a few inches taller than her by the look of her lanky legs, and had curtains of hair falling around her face that she would occasionally tuck behind her ears as she played with Crackers. The brunette also had a pair of glasses on that were taped together where the temple met the end piece. Add that to the hand-me-down robes and the fact that Holly had mentioned someone named Ms. Frills instead of parents and Gail safely assumed that Holly lived in a group home. It was either that or a hippie commune.

Then Gail noticed the brunette looking at the small barn owl who had just been watching them both intently the whole time they spoke. Gail glared at him and when he noticed he hooted excitedly at her.

"What's its name?"

"I haven't named him yet," said Gail, still glaring at the dumb feathered beast. "I'd prefer to be rid of him. Hey, want an owl? Trade you for the rest of your crackers."

Holly laughed, making Gail grin.

"I think a beautiful owl is worth a lot more than," Holly looked down at the package in her hand, "two crackers."

The owl hooted happily at Holly while Gail watched Crackers sneak the last two bread disks from the package Holly was holding in her lap.

"Don't act like you know what she said." Gail poked the cage so it swung. The owl just looked at her for a second before hooting excitedly at her again. He must have been happy they were paying attention to him finally. It wasn't like the creature understood them. He was so annoying. Gail kneeled on the cushions and opened the cage. "Go, be free. Fly away."

The owl looked from her to the open door and then hopped out of the cage only to perch itself on the seat back behind where Gail had been sitting.

"I think he likes you," laughed Holly. Crackers looked on from the safety of her pocket. Rodents and birds didn't tend to get along. Gail narrowed her eyes at Holly before turning and glaring at the bird.

"Go. Look the train window is open. Fly free with your fellow birds." The owl looked at the open widow Gail was pointing at then looked back at her and hooted. Gail sighed and let her arms hang at her sides. "Ugh. So annoying."

"Why don't you want him? He's so cute."

Gail plopped herself back down in her seat and looked over at Holly. She'd never wanted to talk to anyone about her mother before but she actually found herself wanting to tell Holly about how terrible Elaine was. She wanted to spill her guts about how invisible she felt at home, how Elaine had left her in Diagon Alley more than once and usually on purpose, how she ate with her house elves most nights, and how she hated that her mother only got her the stupid owl so that she could harass her while she was at school. But she couldn't. She just literally couldn't get her brain to form the words for her mouth to speak.

"I didn't ask for him," muttered Gail hoping Holly would somehow get that she just didn't like that it wasn't her choice to have him. The brunette seemed to get it and just nodded with a small smile.

"Well, it looks like he isn't giving up on you," said Holly, her grin becoming a smile. "You might as well name him."

Looking over the bird sitting on the chair back next to her head, Gail narrowed her eyes.

"Laine. L-A-I-N-E. Laine." It only seemed appropriate to name him after the woman who had forced his company upon Gail. Laine hooted and ruffled his wings.

"Seems like he likes it"

"He's a bird, Holly. He likes to eat rodents and poop all over his cage," said Gail as she turned back to Holly. She noticed Crackers stick her head back in Holly's pocket at the mention of Laine eating rodents. Why were all these animals acting like they knew what was going on around them? Pure blood or not it wasn't like Gail spent a lot of time hanging around animals, magical or non-magical.

Gail was sure Holly was about to say something when the compartment door burst open and a tiny girl with dark red hair ran in and quickly shut the door behind herself. The intruder quickly locked the door and turned to let out a long sigh, resting her back against the door. When she noticed Holly and Gail staring at her she smiled apologetically.

"Hi. Sorry. There's a boy chasing me with a toad and I needed a place to hide. I hate toads," said the girl almost in one breath. "They're so creepy and slimy."

"They really need better locks on these doors," mumbled Gail as she coaxed Laine back into his cage and moved down the seat to lean against the window.

"Actually I didn't lock it," said Holly sheepishly. "I've just been asking people to leave when they come in. You were sleeping and I didn't want them to wake you up."

Watching Holly for a moment, Gail shrugged. It was Holly who ended up waking her anyways and it turned out she didn't exactly hate Holly so she felt like she could let it slide. This new girl however seemed to be joy incarnate and that bubbly personality was starting to fill the room leaving no room for her doom and gloom style of silent brooding.

"You couldn't pick another room to hide in?" asked Gail.

"No," the redhead timidly sat down. "The others are locked and my wand is in my trunk."

"Good place for it," snorted Gail before looking over and seeing Holly looking at her questioningly. That's when Gail realized that she had actually been rather nice to Holly the whole time they spoke. Too bad that wasn't how the blonde usually spoke to people. "Whatever. I guess you can stay. At least you're just another first year."

The girl beamed at both of them and Gail watched the corner of Holly's lips twitch up in a small smile before turning to the intruder.

"I'm Holly Stewart." Holly reached over and held her hand out. The other girl took her hand and shook it excitedly.

"Chloe Price." Chloe looked over at Gail expectantly. Gail just looked back at her with interest but didn't move and certainly didn't speak.

"This is Gail Peck. She's a little grumpy," said Holly. "I accidentally woke her up."

"Peck?" And there it was. The recognition followed by wide eyes and that look. That look said that Chloe would be walking on egg shells around her for now on, afraid of the Peck gaze falling upon her or her family. Gail hated that look with a burning passion. "Wow."

Holly looked from Chloe to Gail and tilted her head at the blonde. Gail chest tightened and she suddenly hated Chloe's presence no matter how nice she seemed. For one brief moment Gail wasn't a Peck. Instead she was just another eleven year old headed to school. She wanted that feeling back. Soon Holly would be learn everything about her and her family and she took would look at her the same way as the rest of them. No more smiles and honest conversation.

"My godfather is Professor Best," said Chloe excitedly. "He's the Muggle Studies teacher."

"Muggle Studies?" asked Holly. Gail's chest still felt constricted even as Holly turned her attention to their new companion and Chloe went into a long ramble about the class and then all the other classes. For a while, Gail stayed rather quiet, choosing to read the Daily Prophet instead of joining the conversations and she'd only really participate when Holly asked her something or addressed her.

When the trolley woman stopped by their compartment, Gail and Chloe bought heaps of snacks while Holly pulled out another package of crackers. Crackers that Gail watched Holly sneak most of into her pocket when Chloe wasn't looking. Then the brunette looked up and caught Gail watching her and smiled sheepishly. Gail just grinned before going back to the paper. Chloe offered to share some of her snacks with Holly when she saw what the brunette was eating but she declined. At some point, Chloe went to go get her want from her compartment and said she'd be right back. As soon as she was gone, Gail gathered up the rest of her snacks, she had saved one of each different kind, and dumped them in Holly's lap. When the brunette tried to protest, Gail stopped her with a shake of her head.

"Nope. You're a witch now. You deserve to try out the candy. It's much better than crackers anyways."

Just because Holly would probably want nothing to do with her when she found out who the Pecks were didn't mean she couldn't try to bribe her way in beforehand. Gail didn't know why but she wanted Holly to like her. She wanted Holly to want to be friends with her. And by the look of the smile on Holly's face as she packed the candy into her lunchbox and opened a chocolate frog package, Gail could swear Holly might want her as a friend too.

Chloe soon returned, her wand and trunk in tow and Gail was back to sitting quietly in her corner. The redhead told Holly things about Hogwarts that most muggle-born kids would probably find super interesting. Things like how paintings moved, how ghost roamed the hall, how the stairways moved, and how there were hidden passages everywhere. Gail knew that stuff was all junk that _Hogwarts, a History_ covered but Holly listened and smiled like it was all information she had never heard before. Is that how normal kids acted? Like Holly and Chloe? Gail spent the rest of the ride watching them over her newspaper trying to understand how it seemed to be so easy for them.

By the time they reached the station at Hogsmeade, Gail was already tired of being social and she had barely said a word since Chloe had joined them. As the three girls left their stuff on the train and poured out onto the station platform with all the other students Gail thought about how she still had the sorting and the feast to get through before she'd be able to curl up in her new bed in the Slytherin dungeons and just to sleep.

_Or maybe not Slytherin. Remember how clever you are. How funny would it be if you ended up in another House?_ Gail shrugged away her own thought and grabbed onto the back of Holly's robes before an older guy could walk between them. Holly turned and grinned at her before grabbing Gail's arm and pulling the blonde over to where she was standing with Chloe. They followed the voice calling for first years and all three of them stopped short of an incredibly large man surrounded by other eleven year olds. Gail figured he was probably part giant with how tall he was.

Once they were all huddled around him and the other students were headed off toward carriages down the way, the first years followed the gigantic man down to where a small fleet of boats waited for them along the edge of a monstrous lake. A boy knocked into Chloe and she screamed when a toad was put close to her face as the boy laughed. Gail stomped on his foot causing him to drop his pet and chase after it as it hopped for freedom. As they climbed into a boat together with a pretty girl with dark skin, Holly grinned at Gail and Chloe thanked her while she just shrugged. It wasn't like it was a big deal. That kid was just being an ass.

Then she turned her attention up to the castle looming in the distance. It seemed so large and daunting. Everything was so big: the castle ahead, the other students, the pending mountains of homework, the pressure of not disappointing her mother, the sorting, the feast, and the goofy smile on Holly's face as the brunette looked back at her after checking out their destination. Gail tried to smile back but on the inside she felt like she was being swallowed whole just as their fleet of tiny boats glided silently into the mouth of a cave under Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	2. The Sorting Part 2

The small fleet of boats traveled through a dark tunnel leading under the castle and stopped at a small underground harbor. The first years clambered onto the rocks and pebbles and followed the half-giant, Hagrid, as he led them down a dark passageway. His lantern was the only source of light and Gail found herself very thankful that Holly had gripped her sleeve again when they got out of the boat. They made their way out of the passage onto freshly cut grass and made their way up a flight of stone stairs and stopped in front of the huge oak front door of the looming castle. Hagrid looked around at all of them before knocking on the door.

A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes opened the door. She looked incredibly stern and Gail wondered how she'd do in whatever class that woman taught.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

The steely woman led the group into the entrance hall which was so large that Gail couldn't even make out the ceiling high above them. In front of the group was a large staircase leading up to the floors above and off to the right Gail could make out the loud chattering of the rest of the students. However, Professor McGonagall stopped them just outside of the doorway.

Gail watched Holly's eyes light up as she looked around the enormous room. Holly seemed to inspect each painting with its moving inhabitants before letting her eyes wander up to watch the moving staircases above. Watching the muggle-born girl take in the sight of so many things that seemed boring and every day to Gail made the corner of the blonde's mouth twitch up. Gail was way too used to being around people who considered all of this very mundane.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses, are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. Line up single file please."

Gail frowned when Holly dropped her sleeve to line up single file but she expected it. For a moment, while standing in line behind the brunette, Gail looked down at the arms of her robes and sighed. She had never really dwelled on her lack of friends before that moment because being social was just so draining for her. However, she found herself lamenting the absence of prior peer interaction in her life as she looked up at the girl in front of her. Then she made fun of herself for lamenting anything because she was eleven stinking years old. What kind of eleven year old lamented things? Where did she even learn that word?

As the small group of eleven year olds followed after Professor McGonagall, Gail tried to ignore the curious looks from some of the other kids as they looked her over and wondered what House Holly would be sorted into. It probably wouldn't be Slytherin. Ravenclaw maybe. So, long as she wasn't in Gryffindor maybe there was a chance they could still be friends. At this point, Gail would take being friends with Chloe too if meant she could still be friends with Holly. There was just something so inviting about the nerdy muggle-born. Something she knew she was going to miss when Holly wanted nothing to do with her. She was much too happy and excited to keep talking to Gail.

The Great Hall looked just as amazing as Steve had told Gail and even she was amazed to see the ceiling reflecting the starry sky outside as if the roof itself didn't exist between them and the heavens. She ran into Holly when the kids in front began to stop moving and quickly apologized. Holly smiled at her as Gail positioned herself next to the brunette while the rest first years finished lining up along the stage to get sorted. Professor McGonagall set a four legged stool on the stage in front of the staff table and set a dusty, beat up, old wizard's hat on it. The Sorting Hat, Gail told herself.

The hat twitched and the muggle-born kids in the group all gasped as the brim ripped open and the hat began to sing. It sang of the different qualities that each House looked for in its students and about the founders of the school.

Gail could feel her palms start to sweat and her knees felt like they barely wanted to hold her up. Why was she nervous? It wasn't like she was one of the muggle-born kids lined up with her. She knew what House she'd be in; she knew where she belonged. Didn't she?

Professor McGonagall began calling kids up in alphabetical order, one by one, so they could sit on the stool and have the talking hat dropped onto their head. Nicholas Collins almost tripped on his way up to the stool but sat on the stool with a big dumb grin on his face as the hat covered his eyes. The brim ripped open to shout out the name of his House and Nick stumbled over to sit with the rest of the idiots of Gryffindor.

A tall boy named Chris, who looked much older than 11, was sorted into Hufflepuff along with that annoying kid with the toad, Dov. A few other kids were sorted but Gail wasn't really paying attention. She was more focused on her increased heart rate and sweaty palms. Gail looked over at Holly who smiled brightly at her. The muggle-born was probably just happy she didn't have to fight a troll like some of the other first years had been whispering about.

"McNally, Andy"

Gail's attention snapped back to the sorting when she recognized a name. McNally was the name of a man who worked in law enforcement under her parents. He was a drunk from what Gail had heard. The calm, spunky looking brunette was sorted into Gryffindor with barely any hesitation and Gail rolled her eyes. It would figure that one of the only people she might have anything in common with would turn out to be a Gryffindor. Another Hufflepuff followed McNally.

"Peck, Gail."

Gail could hear a few whispers behind her as she walked up to the stool and hoisted herself up onto it. She caught a glimpse of the Great Hall before Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head but instead of seeing the students the only thing she saw was Holly smiling at her before the brim of the large hat slipped over her eyes. It was almost as if all the lights in the hall had been snubbed out.

"Hmm," said the hat. "Strange. Very strange. Are you sure you're a Peck?"

Gail furrowed her brow and thought, _Of course I'm a Peck. _ What did the hat mean with that question. Why was this even taking so long. Steve had been sorted almost immediately. Gail's thoughts floated back to the comment she made in front of her mom, Gail's joke about possibly not being in Slytherin.

"Aha! I think I have it now," said the disembodied voice of the Sorting hat in her ear. Gail was relieved. Soon she'd be sitting next to Steve and eating - "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Great Hall came into view as the hat was removed from Gail's head. However, Gail didn't move. With wide eyes, she looked up at Professor McGonagall who just pointed her toward the Hufflepuff table.

_This isn't happening. This isn't happening. I'm still asleep on the train._

"Miss Peck, others are waiting to be sorted," said Professor McGonagall. Gail shot up and quickly scurried to the end of the table under the gold tapestry as eyes all over the hall followed her movements. She couldn't even stomach to look for Steve at the table behind her and she avoided the congratulatory cheers of the students at her own though she managed to catch a couple of the closer exchanges.

"A Peck. Wow. I thought they were all Slytherin."

"My mom works in the same department as the Pecks. She's probably just as stuck up."

_Soon, I'm going to wake up and be back on the train. Holly never woke me up. This is all just a dream. A very bad dream._

Through the static in her brain, as she buried her head in her hands, she could hear Chloe getting sorted into Ravenclaw along with Holly and she glanced up through her fingers to watch the annoying red head and the nice girl with glasses sit together at the table opposite her. Holly caught her eye and gave a little wave before having her attention taken away by an older student.

Gail groaned and turned her head to glance at the High Table where Dumbledore stood. With a few magic words food filled the empty dishes all along the table and Gail's stomach rumbled when the delicious smells overwhelmed her nose. Apparently, no amount of terrible news could quell a hungry Gail Peck.

"Hey!"

Gail could tell the call for attention was directed at her but she chose to ignore it as she piled food onto her plate.

"Hey, Peck!"

She reflexively readied her face with a glare before looking over toward the voice. It was coming from further down the Hufflepuff table, close to where the majority of the House was sitting. Gail's eyes landed on the annoying smile of Dov, the kid that had been terrorizing Chloe with his pet toad. When he saw he had gotten her attention he mistakenly took it as a sign to move down the table to sit closer to her followed by Chris.

"Hey, hey. A Peck in Hufflepuff," said Dov. "Shouldn't you be bursting into flames?"

Gail didn't even dignify him with an answer. She kept her focus on the amazing food before her. Despite how goofy he looked he must have gotten the hint and with a small cough, changed the subject.

"I'm Dov. This is Chris." She already knew this from the sorting of course but she glanced up to see Dov point at Chris. "Chris is muggle born so don't mind him if something scares him. I can't wait for him to see all the paintings and the stairs. The stairs probably have to be the coolest thing my brother told me about."

"Where is your brother?" asked Chris. "I didn't get to meet him on the train."

"He's down the table with the other fourth years," said Dov.

Gail just watched them talk while she ate. Eventually one of the other new first years moved down the table to join their group. She sat right next to Gail and smiled at her before turning to Chris and Dov.

"Hey, Traci. I see you finally managed to get away from that guy who was talking your ear off," said Dov.

"He wouldn't stop talking. He was going on about some store in Diagon Alley," said Traci.

The rest of dinner went by in a very slow and obnoxious haze. Dov and Chris had taken it upon them to continue bothering Gail and it wasn't until Traci told them to leave her alone that they decided to cease with the continuous questions. Soon, the first years were trotting behind the older students toward their respective dorms. Gail heard someone mention Hufflepuff's dorm being near the kitchens and she couldn't even bring herself to be excited about it. How was she going to tell her parents? Was Steve going to tell them? How would they react? Was Gail going to get a Howler first thing in the morning?

All Gail knew as she lied down in bed, curled up into a ball under her sheets, feeling more alone then ever, was that she wished she was back on the train with the nerdy girl who wanted to be her friend.


End file.
